I'm Stan Grant.
Hello. Thanks for joining us. I'm Stan Grant.
Hello. Nice to have you with us on Matter Of Fact.
JACK: This is Stan Grant.
He's a pretty well-known journalist and media personality on the ABC.
He is a Wiradjuri man, and his Indigenous identity
has shaped his perspective on social issues.
But we are a long way from that Australia.
Recently, Stan was part of the ABC's coverage
of the King's coronation.
The symbol of that crown represented the invasion, the theft of land.
Where's our treaty?
Where is the recognition
of what happened under the name of the Crown?
God save the King!
Not everyone watching agreed with what Stan was saying
and thought that it wasn't appropriate
for him to share those views during a time of celebration.
Stan quickly became the target of online harassment
in the form of derogatory racial comments and slurs,
which he spoke out about and gave as the reason
for him deciding to take a break from the media.
Many of you would know by now
that I'm stepping away for a little while.
Sometimes, we need to just take time out.
Sometimes, our souls are hurting. And so it is for me.
Stan also said he felt unsupported by the ABC
when the racial attacks were happening,
and that when the ABC bosses did speak up, it was too late.
We reject racism!
PROTESTERS: We reject racism!
It's really hard to see him struggling,
and that he's had to cop the racism
and the disgusting filth that has been put online.
The whole thing has ignited a national conversation
around racism here in Australia, and it's raised the question about
who should be responsible for calling it out
because, unfortunately,
this sort of thing happens all the time.
From my perspective, you know,
racism, sometimes, it comes out of the blue
and it surprises you when you least expect it,
and, sometimes, it's expected, you know it's going to happen.
It reminds you that, um, sometimes, there's a different set of rules
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
than what there are for non-Indigenous Australians.
Nina is from Reconciliation Australia and says that, last year,
60% of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed
reported experiencing racism in at least one form or another.
It can make you feel, like, hopeless and helpless
and it's tiring.
It makes you feel tired.
As young people experience racism at school,
it means that they don't feel safe to be themselves
and they don't feel like they belong in that place.
Days after Stan Grant's announcement,
NITV suspended its official Twitter account
because of ongoing racism and hate on the platform.
Twitter's not the only social media company
to be called out over what's happening.
Victoria's Aboriginal treaty body
has now publicly asked Facebook parent company Meta
to better control racist abuse online.
It says there's been a surge in hate speech
and it's linked to increased political debate
about the Voice to Parliament and the upcoming referendum.
It's not something that the Victorian community at large
would accept as...as normal discourse.
It's...it's offensive online, it's offensive in person,
and Facebook need to step up and moderate.
They want stronger moderation
and more protections for First Nations peoples.
But lots of people reckon that's not enough on its own.
Nina says that, right now,
especially during National Reconciliation Week,
it's important for all Australians to come together
and work towards eliminating racism.
And I think it's really important that...
..that children and young people know that,
when they see racism,
they should speak up and call it out,
but only if they feel safe to do so.
Whenever you see an opportunity to educate someone, take it.
And that's...that's what you can do,
as...as non-Indigenous people in Australia -
you can help spread the word of the truth
of the histories and everything else.
That's what you can do to be an ally.